Stemming apparatus



Sept. 2, 1930. I J. GouGH STEKHING APPARATUS Filed May 18, 1928' TOR / M- ORNEY).

PatentedY Sept. 2, A1930 p [srniyimNG APPARATUS v nAppiicaeeagleafiryi, i528. serif-arno. 278,697. Y

My vinventiony relates tok leafstemmers:

. thetype shown in myl ,cor-pending, application Serial No. 49,208, -filedon or aboutV Augustf10,`1925, that is lto say;v stemmers in y a* which the stems. are Vgrasped by and between y "These stemming belts are driven belts,"'andusually oneis driven by gear wheels connect.

moving belts at thev stemming station.

ing the two belts. 1t has been found'howf ever,-that 4the dirt and other foreigni'matter* in and about tobacco stemmingfrmachines, wear the teeth of these intercor'ine'ctingpy gears both rapidly and-severely, thus lo'oseningup 1. the; driving eonnectionxlof the beltdi'iven therebyand to a v'certainfextent Vstems-escape 'l from the belts usually from between the edges` ofthe .belts facing. the leXit end ofthe may i .completely yextracted from' ythe leafblades. L

chine, l Vbefore being The obj ect of Vmy Vinvention ,Y to llimpidi-)Ve machines of this type inthe respectindicated.

' The manner in which this is accomplished apkpearsfrom lthe description of a machine em- V- bodying kmy present invention', which folA lows. Y v

The accompanying of /rsirnplicityandl clarity, various parts commonly foundy on suchfjmachines l have been omitted. fromv these drawings, aswill beun- 'derstoodg substantially only those-.partsjare A, shown which are nec`essary.-orafready unf derstanding'of the invention; f'Fig; 1f is 'a' i plan view of them/achine.` fvFig'gQ is' anele- H 'vation YF ig. v3V is-a 'sectionalfzv'iew'fatthe, .stemming belts;v --Fig. 4 is a broken plan'view f' lwithin thevuppefrbelt; i .l K f 'i k,In-the*machineillustrated, *y leaves 1, 'more or less separated'l l-f-roinieachi other, are placed .on al series lofLherirZont'a'l 1 beltsY 2, .3, 4, whichcarry the* leavesrltoithee .frighty 'in a direction;` .substantiallyfat right; angles to the lengthov the leaves; the guider, l .board 7, against which .the ends o f' the stems 1 eifthef leaves are laid-,` serves'r `toindicate the l proper placementof the leavesontheQbelts.

drawings illustrate! my invention applied to l a stemnriingfmachinel quitelike that illustrated .in myco-'pendingV .applicationv above identified. ForftheQsalse rif-30 the 'Y clothing, i

`betweenthezwires, but 'thef blades can not'l follow. .These various belts. pass over fpul- YJosnrii GoUG1-I`,`oF NEWARK, Nuvi ,ma A'ssrenonmoeouen 'STEMMING MA- f 'Y CHINE eour/'ORA'JJIoimY oFQNEwYoRK,N ,Y.,A CORPORATION ,ofF'NEW- Jfrnasnv` y i leys and'fsupporting surfaces, various' ofthe` l pulleys ofthe conveyor belts,y and also of the cardl'belt ,8, being driven Lto. give motiontoV thebelts;fthe` cardbelt 9 can also 'be driven L i Abyone or its supportingpulleys; in fa. Similar manner, but'I have-found it lquite convenient.v Y to let this lbceltfrun vloose and take rits motion fromtheglower card belt 8 with whichfjitsi l' voperating runs of the v'card belts 18j-landt?)- rwire teethimore yor less-'in'termeshf Thejco-y f travel/'to th'eright ofthe drawingk'lilzefthe L conveyor belts' and the"l speed 'of theseftwo f, -beltsmay bethe same as thato1 the v'convey'cu Y y Lb'elt's.g` 'l`he cardbelts Sand 9 yaresoggplaeed` f 'that v the butt ends 'of the stems project rearc a 17oy wardlyirom them`,-"and opposite that 'card belts and extending'back'gfrom th em,'pusually `substantially in the'gdirection :of thestems, lare-the two; zoeoperating.l stempulling belts 1 12 and '13., The forwardrollers 14 ,andfflf ardfv t r`belts",fand.holdthe bite Vofthe stem-pulling1y beltssofclose to the stripper cardbelts,t3-aridiV l Y, v9'thattheends' lof 'the"stems inmoviiigto if" "the Y right-,`f'senter the bitef;l ,Prefer ably `rho-wfl ,ever thej rollersf 14j and ,'15 are SlightlyfinofV the-se belts substantiallyifacejhel 'dined .fromiparalleij lathe ',Qardrvbeits' s 'and'. Y'

9,*andlikeWiSe the belts: lejana piegare slightly inclinedirom the normal "to the plane of thecard belts, sothat the bite ofthe? belts;

12 and 13is nearer the card'beltjsat the exit .side of fthemachine thanat the entrance'side, n Yfas-shown in yligggl; this better rassures the entr vroit theffslte'mslinto the bite ',offthest'em-' pulling belts.` l The jstem-p'ulling belts 12 and 13 yare driven inthe"mannerlhereinafterfde l scribed, traveling'in the directions 'of the jar-Ak f Y. rowsf 16 zrespect'ively andare intende'dftobe l {hlCl-S "01045940 SChQhQ-t St'eIIiS FSCGV "'fbetvveen'v -theg'belts are; pulled from vthe blades,"

the' glatter;:beingA retained '.biruie @jard pelothli ing 8v 9 lwhilethe stemsare" being pulled v out, :and `ultimate:ly,dischargedatthe rightf'xj: i s Y ,hand end,'fo `r exitend off the, inahine Alli'v f .the illustrated Y mayl bedrivenlcontinu?. c,

ously, and thus the stemming may be done while the leaves yare travelling from left to right. The stems are thrown out of the stem-pulling belts 12 and 13 to the rear as will be apparent. Devices may lbe provided to remove the leaf blades from the kvarious vbelts at the proper places such devices are well known, and for simplicity 'none are iln V.lustrated in theaccompanying drawing.

The rolls 'and 21 support the ends of the belts 12 andf13 remote from'thecard belts" 8 and 9.V The roll 2O is drivenfrom the power source ofthe machine, for exampley by the Y* sproclret22 and chainj23,and drives its belt 15: 12; the belt 13` however is driven by friction,

andr specifically by its'f'frictional' engagement with Athebelt 12.' "To provide adequatetrac- Vtion for'and between these beltsffor this purpose'l makethe roller 2() 'somewhat larger "thany the lower roller 21, and place it somewhat furtherto'tlie rear,` tha-nthe roller-21 Y 'and somewhat below'the top of the roller 21,

I f heretofore. usually used to connect the twok stemming beltsy Yfor Y driving' purposes.

u V hold the Aco-operating stem-engaging runs of 30 twopairsof rollers 1li-15 and 20-21,1 prosothatthe belt'21fisheld' in close engage- `mentwiththe belt v13 throughout an 'arclof curvature ofthe lbelt 13 around its roller 21 (Fig. 3). Thus I eliminate the gear wheels y 'lo the beltsclose to each other intermediate the I vide transversesupports 25V and 26,'which hof-preferably, are' small rollers asV indicated.

Y These'supports are provided at the edges rof fthe right hand edgesin'the drawings, Vto as- "sist at this point ini preventing the escape the beltsfrom which thek leaf blades'depart,

i from the belts ratthesefedges of'long stems 4or those stems entering Vthe stemspulling belts late? They-need not extendlentirely Y acrossithe'pbelts.,v Preferably I'provide such transverse supportsat both edges of the belts as shown'. Preferablytoo the'two'members i4 2,5 1V and 26' offeach pairfofothese transverse Y 45o supports are not located exactly opposite eachv l other,f`butarejdisplaced Ahorizontally somefwhatjf-romeach other Figs and l); s an arrangement holds thestemf'engaging runs 1 of the'belts close to eachother,'or yat least prevents'-undue separat-ion of these two, runs from eachotherso that the stems are gripped firmly, thus tending to [successfulextraction ofthe stems and preventing escape of a stem once ity has entered between [the belts, veX- lcept atjthe rear-where *theV completely lex- `,tracted stems areintendedV to bethrown out; Y j at the .same time v`thestaggered,relationof the supportsiorjrolls 25k and 26 of each'pair withlrespectto each other permits extraordinarily larger stems A or foreign., matter to *pass rbetween the supports lwithoutinjuring A, the machine:v Y

Y The rolls'jand26fcan 'carried' on plates 27fwithin ythe belts',tand these in turn carried bya bracketor brackets 28 Vfastened tothe Such` brackets supporting the rollers 14, 15, 2O and 21 which carry the stem-pulling belts. lo further aid in preventing the escape of stems from the stem pulling belts at the edges of the latter, and especially at those edges which are toward the exit end of the machine (the right hand edges in the drawings), l lind it preferable to add a member or members 30 bearing against the edges of belts and spanning the space between the blade-engaging runs of the 'stem-pulling belts at these edges, preferably vertical rollers as illus- `trated. rlhese rollers 3() can be carried by ythe same plates 27 as carry the horizontal rollers 25 and 26. The most important of these edge members is the one located at the righthand edges of the stem-pulling belts, i. e. the edges (from which the blades depart) adjacent the rolls 141- and 15; the other orv others at the same edges mayralso act di-TY rectly to assist in keeping stems from escaping through these edges, and also to guide the stem-pulling belts in their proper paths.

'lhe members 30 at the opposite or left hand edgesassist the same action by keeping the belts'12V and 13 against the members 8O at the right. o

l Desirably cover plates 31 are provided to encloseV thetop and two sides of the belts 12 ainll,A and the ends of the rollers support 'ing with these belts so fait as possible. The

Vpurpose'of these cover plates is to prevent the entrance of foreign matter, and especially the. accidental or deliberate insertion of leaf stems or other foreign matter into the beltswwhere they pass around the supporting rollers.

lt'` is tol be understood that my invention is not limited to the detailsillustrated and described, except as appears hereinafter in the claims.

' support within one of said beltsaround which said belt is curved, the other of said belts engaging' said one of the belts throughout an arc of the curvatureof the latter around said support to provide traction for driving oneV of theV belts from the other, and" means for driving one ofsaid'belts.

8. I n a stemming machine, means for retaining the leaf blades, a pair of co-operating r belts extending away Ytherefrom in the generaldlrection of the leaf stems and arranged 'toreceive the stems and pull, the stems from the blades, means to support said belts adja- 25 f retaining means vwithin one of the belts and j 'fijmseg cent said blade-retaining means, a belt support around which one of said belts is curved at a point morefremote from said 'blade-retaining means, and a belt support for the .other of said belts, the last mentioned two belt Vsupports being sovrelated that the lastl mentioned belt is'held' in engagement with'the first mentioned belt throughout-an arc of theA curvature-of the iirst mentioned belt around its said remote `support to provide driving traction on one ofthe belts, and means' for driving one of saidgbelts, theother'being;V

driven by its engagement with the driven 4. InV a stemming ,maehiine, .continuously movingmeans m'ovingrwith the leaves in a diretionsubstantiallyV at rightY angles to the leaves'as the stems are pulled out, a pairrof, 'co-r operating beltsA extendingv away from said; means. in the generaldirection of the leaf port the beltadjaeent said blade retaining means, a pulley more remote from the blade-l around which` saidbelt isA curved, apulley 'Y engaging the other belt", said pulleys beingA so arranged that the second -nientioned VVbelt Y 35 @operating to receive the ,stems between them moving meansmoving with the leaves in -a;

is heldin engagementl with tlie'first men-V tioned belt` throughout an arc iof vthe curvature of the first mentioned belt around the said pulley within-it to affordjtraction between the belts, and/means for driving a pulley supportingl one ofsaid belts,theother ,Y ybelt being drivenk by its engagement with'the belt on the, driven pulley.

'5.1111 a stemming machine, continuously leaves'and for retaining the'fblades ofthe 'leaves' as the stems'arepull'ed out, a' pairfof' Vco-operating belts extending away fromsaid b means in the general'directionv of the-leafv stems vand arranged to receivelthie stems and pull the stems from ythe blades, means to supvport the belts a-djaoentjsaid blade-retaining means, ya pulley'nioreireinote from the blade retaining "means within one ofthe belts' and around-which said belt isvcurved, a. pulley engaging the'fother belt, said pulleys vbeing sol arranged that the second mentionedbeltis held inengagement wthfthe first mentioned` belt throughout an arc of the'curvature of. the first'mentioned belt Yaround the E'said @pnl ley within it to afford traction between the belts, means for driving a pulleysupporting one of'said belts, the other belt being "driven by itsengagement.withtlie' belt onvtheldriven pulley, rolls within land transverse of the belts between said belt-supporting means and y said pulleys, to hold-ithe stem-engagingruns Y. .l of the twobelts close toeacli other interme-j i -diatesaid supporting means androlls trans'-V verse to the edges ofthe belts'fbearing against 1' intermediate said supporting; means' for the i Y1yr-af'stemming'"machine, means for rer 6g' a stemming machine, v"ineans'for 'i 'ree t'ainingfthefleafblades, a pairof'belts'cov Y'operatingr tov receive the` stems *between them4 and/pull the stems from therblades, means to support the'V belts adjacent 'said blade-retain. s.

ing -ine`ans",ineans tolsupportlthebelts subi stantially c'loseto each o'therfat point more remote from said blade-retaining means, land rollsltr'ansve'rse to-thebelts between-said two y beltsupporting means to holdVv the stem-engaging'runsfof tlieybelts'closeftoeachother or krso l taining the leaf blades, a pair of belts cooperatingtoreceive the stemsbetween them and 'A o pull the stems from the blades, means to sup-v 'port/the belts adjacent said blade-retaining fme'ans,y means to vsupport-'the-'belts ,substan-/l tially close to each other at a point'more remeans to holdtlie stem-engaging runs of the. belt close to each other intermediate said belt supportingmeans.V 1 '8. In a stemming machine, means rrfoi` retaining the leaf blades, ka f pairof belts ,co-

and pull the stems from theblades, means to y support the belts adj acentlsfaid,bladeeretain ing'means, means-1to1support thefoobeltssiibfr l i. `stai-itially closetoeach other ata point more i remote yfrom said bladefretaining means, afi' belteengaging member within ,eachof said yfbelts' .I between said two' belt@'supporti-ngt fmeaiis, said members co-operatingto hold the v stemfengaging'lruns of thev belts close to each :other and said members notbeing oppositeff each other.

k9.' In astemming machine,VY continuously Y moving means-'moving vwitli'theleaves in a direction substantially at'riglity angles tothey v 110'V 'Y "asthe'Stemsaife'pillledut, a pairrof co- Operating bell???ztenflngY away-fromsad g l means in al direction'.substantially'pm-1191 v 'With vthe leaf stems toreoeive the stemgnber.- if ,i

leaves andarranged to retaiiithe leaf blades:

-leaves, and means spanning the' space'- be? ltween, ,theblade-engaging runs of the belts I: at the Iedges thereof from which saidblade-l y retaining means V moves away, to prevent `the i i escape. of the leaf Vsteinsfrom the ybelt atfsaid'f edges@V of l f *i .v v,10.15111 a stemmingv machine,fblade-retaini ,ing `means: continuously movingl with thef leaves inr a direction substantially at?v right.V 'I

anglest'o they leaves, a pairof beltsextending` direction substantially parallel to the leaf-l he blades,means to support thev belts adj 1 rmote Yfrom lsaid i blade-retaining means, fand *I means .between said two? belt-supporting .f 9o' Y 'esfpf Y Y,stems and-cooperatingfto'-receiyeathegleaf f f stems betweeiithemanddrawthe-stems from f 11511,@A

y away` from said blade-retaining injeansdii:afv Y Y i l 1,774,899

cent said bladefretaining means, meansto supportthebeltszelose to each othe1` at a,

point morefremote from said blade-retaining y means,a,` roll Within each belt, each roll hold- 5ingvthe stem-engaging runk of itsvbelt at the v i edge thereof from which said blade-retaining Y v Y i means moves away toward the stem-engaging f run yof the other belt at a point intermediate v said supports, said iolls'beingdisplaoed from f 10 each other, and yalJ member spanning the space f between the blade-engaging `runs of the belts at. said edges thereof,v toprevent escape of stems'fromthe belts atsaidedges. l

v'-In 'testimony whereof, `I-hewe signed this 15 specification. Y

f Y ,ik JOSEPH GOUGH.

i Y T45 f v 

